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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Crispy Caramel Popcorn

To celebrate the fact that I have a new power cord for my laptop and can use my computer again, I give you caramel popcorn! I had about 20 teenage girls from church over to my house for an activity last night and made this caramel popcorn for a treat. This recipe is from a friend, and it is to die for. Really. The caramel makes a super-thin coating on the fluffy popcorn and it is incredibly light and crispy when you eat it. It was completely, totally addicting and my husband and I made ourselves sick eating what was left after all the crazy girls went home.

On a fun note, my sweet husband bought me a light box. I'm going to use the lightbox (and the new camera that's coming for Christmas--Eeee! :) to take the pictures for my book. These pictures are some of my first experiments; getting the lights just right is going to take some practice, I think.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, cream of tarter, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

3. Clip on a candy thermometer and cook, stirring constantly (I actually didn't stir it at all--so much for reading the directions carefully) until the mixture reaches hard ball stage, about 5 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and quickly whisk in the baking soda. Poor immediately over popped corn, and stir and toss gently until it's evenly coated. Divide the mixture between the two prepared pans and spread into an even layer.

5. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. Turn out onto waxed paper and allow to cool completely (I actually let it cool on the pans, and I stirred it a few times as it cooled to break up the big chunks). Store in an airtight container.